They may have competed against the next generation of basketball superstars with a tough lead-up, but this Canberra-based side overcame those hurdles to claim a significant piece of silverware.
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The NBA Global Academy based out of the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra has become renowned for producing Boomers, NBA and Olympic-calibre players.
Now the next crop of basketball talent is coming through the ranks with a bang after winning the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta last weekend.
The team went undefeated in the competition (6-0), beating sides from the US, Africa and Latin America to win the trophy for the first time since Boomer and NBA standout Josh Giddey was with the squad in 2022.
The seven Australians in the team consisted of the brothers of NBA stars Dyson Daniels and Johnny Furphy, Dash and Jacob, as well as Nash Walker, Mading Kuany, Emmett Adair, Marcus Vaughns and Sa Pilimai.
Assistant coach Nathan Brereton was beaming about how his players performed against competitors who on paper were actually much stronger.
"There was a lot of size at the event. So the opposition we're playing against were generally bigger and better athletes," he told The Canberra Times.
"We were confident if we played to our abilities that we'd have a good chance of winning. But you never know with an event like this.
"Some of our boys had just played in the Under-17 World Cup in Turkey, and we didn't have a whole lot of preparation time, but we were able to get the result we wanted."
The Canberra-based Academy side defeated the NBA Global Academy Select team 91-84 in the final playing a defensive style as they plucked off rebounds and moved swiftly in transition to score their baskets.
Captain Jacob Furphy was in doubt for the final after he succumbed to a muscle tightness injury in the lead-up, but the Tasmanian still put in with a 14-point effort to rally his team.
It prompted Brereton to predict Furphy to follow in his brother's footsteps, who also was part of the NBA Global Academy in Canberra before being drafted by the Indiana Pacers this year.
"In the second-last game, Jacob Furphy hurt himself, and we were unsure he was going to be able to play the next day, but he made a great recovery and then played a fantastic final," Brereton said.
"Without him the group certainly wouldn't have played as well together as what we could have.
"He had a great week, and as a result, he's got lots of interest from colleges and other places.
"He certainly could be in the NBA one day."